DSA is the major organization on the American left with an all-embracing moral vision, systematic social analysis, and political praxis rooted in the quest for radical democracy, social freedom, and individual liberties.

—Cornel West,DSA Honorary Chair

DSA carries on a fine old American tradition— the tradition carried on by Eugene Debs, Mother Jones, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and thousands more. I am proud to be a member.

—Barbara Ehrenreich,DSA Honorary Chair

Active organizing for democracy is needed now more than ever. For this to succeed, both working and poor people—who are the majority—have to have a voice. DSA is one of those voices.

—Dolores Huerta,DSA Honorary Chair

Who we are & what we do

Democratic Socialists believe that both the economy and society should be run democratically to meet human needs, not to make profits for a few. We are a political and activist organization, not a party; through campus and community-based chapters DSA members use a variety of tactics, from legislative to direct action, to fight for reforms that empower working people.

The Grassroots Economics Training for Understanding and Power is a series of DSA Fund popular education workshops arming activists and organizers with the knowledge, tools and skills to explain economics from the perspective of the 99% instead of the 1%. Why is poverty on the rise? Why is a low-wage economy unproductive? Who is behind the deregulation, tax-cuts, privatization and de-unionization of the last thirty years? What might an alternative economic model look like?

Religious Socialism is a publication dedicated to people of faith and socialism. As our community grows, we will use it to connect DSA members and to reach out to the larger group of faith-based social justice activists and thinkers. We invite you to join us in making it useful both to people of faith within DSA and to the wider religious left. Be sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and contribute by sending short essays, commentary and articles.

Join DSA members Eric Brasure and Brendan Hamill to discuss the British film Pride (2014). It’s 1984, British coal miners are on strike, and a group of gays and lesbians in London bring the queer community together to support the miners in their fight. Based on the true story of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners. The film is available for rent on YouTube, Amazon, and iTunes. 8 ET/7 CT/6 MT/5 PT.

Join DSA member and labor historian Susan Hirsch in discussing Union Maids(1976). Nominated for an Academy Award, this documentary follows three Chicago labor organizers (Kate Hyndman, Stella Nowicki, and Sylvia Woods) active beginning in the 1930s. The filmmakers were members of the New American Movement (a precursor of DSA), and the late Vicki Starr (aka Stella Nowicki) was a longtime member of Chicago DSA and the Chicago Women's Liberation Union. It’s available free on YouTube, though sound quality is poor. 8ET/7CT/6MT/5PT.

DSA was concerned to find out that the company that provides our website and online organizing infrastructure, NationBuilder, had as a client the Trump campaign and other right-wing candidates. Progressives built this kind of infrastructure and tools for digital organizing and we have now lost that organizing edge. We are moving to identify other options for a CMS/CRM. As an under-resourced, member funded organization, this move will take time for us to carry out, but it is an important statement for us to make.